Luke Bryan Opens Up About Losing His Brother and Sister

For the first time in his career, Luke Bryan is speaking out on the family tragedies that struck as he was beginning to pursue his musical dreams — and why he didn’t let them stand in his way.

The “That’s My Kind of Night” singer was mere days away from moving to Nashville to try and make it as a country singer in 1996 when his older brother was killed in a car accident. The death of Chris, who was 26 at the time, caused Bryan to take a step back and put his career goals on hold.

“I was never convinced I’d get back to Nashville, but I didn’t spend time on ‘Should I go or should I not?’” Bryan tells People (quote via CMT). “It was just ‘Not going.’ Your mother had just lost a child. At that point, her youngest son was not going to leave the house. Chris’ dying got me a little more mature.”

Bryan started working for the family business at that point, but his unhappiness was obvious. With a little push from his dad, Bryan moved to Nashville in 2001. There, he was offered a record deal and a publishing deal, and he started making his very first album, I’ll Stay Me. Tragedy then hit Bryan’s family again when his sister Kelly, who was 39 at the time, suddenly passed away when she was at home with her young son.

“They never determined what happened,” Bryan continues. “The autopsies, the coroner, no one could figure it out.”

The singer has finally come to terms with the death of his brother and sister with the help of his faith, but wishes his sons could meet his siblings.

“I don’t like that my sons are missing that side of my family,” he shares. “But someone else is deciding things.”

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